Jiu-Jitsu and Self Defense

This article is part of the Legacy Feldenkrais Books Archive.

INTRO

Jiu-Jitsu and Self Defense is one of Moshe Feldenkrais’s earliest and most fascinating works. Written in 1930 as a training manual for Haganah recruits, the book reflects Feldenkrais’s deep involvement in martial arts and his practical experience in real-world self-defense.

Although the book presents a series of physical defense techniques, it reveals something much deeper. Feldenkrais approached self-defense not as a collection of memorized movements but as a study of how human beings naturally react under pressure.

Many readers and teachers have noted that the principles underlying this book foreshadow what later became known as the Feldenkrais Method®. The emphasis on natural movement, awareness, and learning from instinctive responses forms the foundation of Feldenkrais’s later work.

This page provides an overview of the book along with reflections on its historical importance and its relationship to the development of the Feldenkrais Method.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Jiu-Jitsu and Self Defense was originally written as a practical training manual for members of the Haganah, a Jewish paramilitary organization formed to defend Jewish communities in Palestine during the early twentieth century.

Moshe Feldenkrais joined the Haganah as a young man and spent many years studying and practicing hand-to-hand combat. Through this experience he developed a distinctive approach to self-defense based on observation of natural human reactions during moments of danger.

Rather than teaching complicated techniques that must be remembered under stress, Feldenkrais focused on the instinctive movement a person makes when suddenly attacked. He believed that effective defense must grow from this natural reflex rather than oppose it.

From this starting point he developed practical techniques that expand and organize the body’s spontaneous responses. This insight—that learning begins from what the nervous system already does automatically—became a central principle in Feldenkrais’s later work on human movement and awareness.

KEY IDEAS IN THE BOOK

• Effective self-defense begins with the body’s natural reactions.
• Instinctive movements can be refined rather than replaced.
• Training should develop awareness and adaptability rather than rigid technique.
• Real learning occurs through experience and experimentation.
• The principles of martial arts can illuminate how people learn to move more efficiently.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Shortly after publishing Jiu-Jitsu and Self Defense, Feldenkrais moved to Paris to continue his scientific studies. There he met Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo and one of the most influential martial artists of the twentieth century.

Kano recognized Feldenkrais’s unusual insight into movement and invited him to help establish the Jiu-Jitsu Club de France. This collaboration played an important role in Feldenkrais’s continued exploration of martial arts, biomechanics, and learning.

These experiences eventually contributed to the development of the Feldenkrais Method®, a system devoted to improving human functioning through awareness and movement.

REFLECTION

Jiu-Jitsu and Self Defense can be seen as the first blossom of Moshe Feldenkrais’s later discoveries. Within the practical instruction of the book lie the early seeds of ideas that would grow into a revolutionary approach to learning and human development.

For students of the Feldenkrais Method®, the book provides a unique glimpse into Feldenkrais’s early thinking and the martial arts roots of his work.

Moti Talks About Jiu-Jitsu and Self Defense

Moti Nativ discusses discovering an original copy of Jiu-Jitsu and Self-Defense by Moshe Feldenkrais. And how it led him to understand the links between Feldenkrais's martial arts background and his development of the Feldenkrais Method. The book is based on a unique approach in which the first line of defense is the instinctive movement you make when attacked. Feldenkrais then built his defense techniques on that first instinctive movement. Moti makes the claim that Jiu-Jitsu and Self Defense is the first Feldenkrais Method.

Related Reading

About Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais
What is the Feldenkrais Method®
Research on the Feldenkrais Method®
Other books by Moshe Feldenkrais